Richard Hickock was an American criminal, best known for his involvement in the brutal murder of the Clutter family in 1959. Along with his accomplice, Perry Smith, Hickock was convicted of the crime, which shocked the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The case gained national attention and was later chronicled in Truman Capote's book, In Cold Blood. Hickock was born on June 6, 1931, in Kansas. He had a troubled upbringing and a history of criminal behavior before the Clutter family murders. After being sentenced to death, Hickock spent several years on death row before he was executed by lethal injection in 1967.